Concrete thinking, Asperger's Syndrome and The Battle of Little Big Horn

In 1876, the vainglorious General George Custor, with a force of 600 troops, impetuously attacked a Sioux band of 2500 to 3000 warriors without waiting for support from the remainder of his companies. The entire body of men was wiped out. The battle was depicted in the movie "They died with their boots on."

I have never seen anyone die with their boots on but I have seen soldiers sleep in that manner. During my active duty service many years ago I was in a company consisting of persons like myself, avoiding the draft by enlisting in the Army reserve. In the midst of my graduate study, six months of active duty and five and half years of Army Reserve at home was preferable to two years of service God knows where.

One of the tribulations was KP. About once every few weeks I tied a towel to my bed stand at night so that the OD at 4:00 AM could wake me and a few other slaves for a day to dress, makes one's bunk, and report to the klitchen. Those who arrived first got the easiest jobs. Laggards would up in the most odious positions, the worst of which was scrubbing greasy pots and pans for an entire company using harsh lye soap in boiling water. Lacing army boots in the dark at 4:00 AM is not any easy task. To avoid pots and pans many soldiers made their beds the night before, did not remove their clothing or boots, and slept on the hard floor. I was no such fool. KP could last 16 hours. Periodically a mess sergeant would arrive, run his finger around the edge of the soapy water, and, if it came out the least bit greasy, make me empty the sink, start again with fresh water, and redo the last two hours work. Nevertheless, I refused to sleep with my boots on.


Asperger's Syndrome is a form of autism occurring in higher functioning persons. Seventy-five percent of autistic child never learn to talk. Almost all have communication deficits. They also have social deficits and may not form relationships. They also may have stereotyped behaviors such as hand flapping, spinning in circles. They are preoccupied with routine and become upset when they encounter new situations. Children with Asperger's tend to be of average or bright intelligence and do develop language, although their speech may seem somewhat poeculiar. They share the other characteristics of autism.

I was asked to consult about a 12 year old sixth grader with the diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome. Alex was verbal, but easily upset with changes in his routine.
His IQ was in the low average range. Alex has been wearing the same sneakers since third grade. He refuses to wear his new sneakers despite the fact that the old ones are torn and ratty. His school psychologist had worked with him and was able to get him to try on the new sneakers and wear them to gym. She provided incentives for him to continue to wear the better fitting, more attractive sneaks. "Do you think you might now wear these all the time?" she asked. "No I like to take off my sneakers when I go to bed" was his reply.

It occurred to me that Alex had a peculiar concrete type of thinking that makes his interpret things literally. Most children his age would accept as a given that people don't sleep with their shoes on and "all the time" referred only to waking hours. I wondered how much of Alex's "melt downs" and other peculiariities wer language based with misterpretation of communications from other leading to his fears and frequent temper outbursts. Alex told me that he doesn't eat apples when he is hungry becayuse they speed up his digestion and are unhealthy. He does not play soccer because "it makes you shrink." Had he been told something stunts his growth? Can I teach him to deal with abstractions, understand humor, recognize inconsistencies and absurditiies. Or are these the very essance of autistic reason and beyond interventions? We'll see.